Damn the MoonPies, full speed ahead: In keeping up the tradition of sending a ship to Mobile for Mardi Gras, the U.S. Navy has dispatched a vessel with a very familiar name.
According to information released Thursday by the city, the USS Farragut will arrive in Mobile the morning of Friday, Feb. 13, just as the city enters the period known to some as “Deep Gras.” The ship, designated DDG-99, is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.
The city’s announcement quoted retired Navy commander Brian Campbell, the Navy League’s Mardi Gras liaison, on the significance of the name. “Adm. David Glasgow Farragut played a defining role in the Battle of Mobile Bay in August 1864, one of the most consequential naval engagements of the Civil War,” Campbell said. “His bold command — famously remembered as ‘Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!’ — led Union forces through a heavily mined channel and secured a decisive victory that closed the Port of Mobile. His leadership, decisiveness and courage remain hallmarks of U.S. naval heritage.”…